Speaker
Fabian Núñez yesterday said that
a compromise deal over the November ballot issues is unlikely. "'
We are seas apart of where we need to be on Live Within Our Means,' Núñez said at a Capitol press conference. "'The type of power the governor is looking for here is the power that no democratic leader in any democratic society currently has, and it's too difficult to get there.'"
The Bee continues "Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata, D-Oakland, who later in the day joined Núñez for a meeting on the issue in Schwarzenegger's office, agreed that there appears to be little hope for a deal."
"'I told the governor I would like to continue working on this ...
but there's no way we could do this fast enough,' Perata said after the meeting in Schwarzenegger's office."
Earlier in the day, Schwarzenegger spokeswoman
Margita Thompson said there is no way the governor would call off the November election, despite speculation that he was hoping to do just that. "The election will not be cancelled," she said. Thompson also seemed to define what would constitute a Schwarzenegger victory at the polls this fall. "The central initiative is the spending control" measure, she said.
Meanwhile, the governor has set his post-election vacation,
adding a trade mission to China to his calendar for November 13-18.
The LA Times' Jordan Rau reports that legislators
plan legislation in response to the governor's financial relationship with American Media Inc. "State Sen.
Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), whose bill to prevent high school athletes from using such supplements was vetoed by Schwarzenegger last year, said she plans to propose barring California's top eight elected officials from holding second jobs."
"Common Cause, Speier and Assemblyman
Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) all want to require more specificity in reporting of the amount of money that politicians receive from each income source."
"'If Californians knew that a constitutional officeholder had a financial interest that was $100,000 or $200,000, that's one thing, but if it's $5 million or $10 million, that's another thing,' Leno said."
"'What you don't want is a quick reaction, saying this happened therefore we ought to do this,' said Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). '
People need to be thoughtful about how to approach this, and it ought not be personalized.'"
With last year's revelations of Nuñez' financial relationship with a Los Angeles labor union, one can understand why he's cautious.
The Bee
reports: "Dissatisfied with subpoenaed materials the California National Guard provided to meet a Tuesday deadline, state Sen.
Joe Dunn said he would seek a contempt finding if it does not submit additional documents by mid-August in the Senate's probe of a controversial military unit."
Speaking of contempt, Sacramento superior court judge
Judy Hersher threatened to
find the administration in contempt of court for refusing to abide by
nurse staffing ratios adopted under the Davis administration.
"Those named in the case are Schwarzenegger, Health and Human Services Secretary
Kim Belshe and Department of Health Services Director
Sandra Shewry. It was not clear whether Schwarzenegger and the agency officials would have to appear in court themselves, but if found in contempt, they could be
subject to penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment."
From our
Art Criticism Files, Greg Lucas reports an exhibit of paintings by lawyers in cafeteria of the AG's office has sparked Republican criticism. "A painting of the
United States sinking into a toilet now on display in the cafeteria of the state Department of Justice has
raised the ire of the state Republican Party, which is demanding that Attorney General
Bill Lockyer remove the image.
The work was painted by Berkeley lawyer
Stephen Pearcy. "I don't know why we need to tolerate the cheap artwork of a gadfly with a world view that is so offensive to a majority of the people," said
Karen Hanretty, a spokeswoman for the California Republican Party.
Don't worry Steve, they said the same thing about Michelangelo. Then again, the crude painting of the country being flushed down the toilet ain't exactly the
Sistine Chapel.Former Los Angeles Mayor
Jim Hahn has landed on his feet,
taking a job with Chadwick, Saylor & Co, a Los Angeles real estate investment company. Firm president
William J. "Chadwick said he has never done business with the city and has no plans to start."
In San Diego today,
Steve Westly is expected to announce his
endorsement of Donna Frye in the mayoral race.
Dept. of Corrections: Thank you for participating in our genealogical test of the Inzunza family yesterday.
Ralph Inzunza, Jr., the San Diego councilman who was convicted Monday of mixing money and policy, is the
big brother of
Nick Inzunza, Sr., who is the mayor of National City and a likely candidate for the 79th Assembly District. Their dad,
Ralph Sr. was also a councilman of National City.
